Alaska

Alaska: land of green forests, black gold, and Red and White Russians. Formerly part of the Russian Empire, Alaska was purchased by the United States in 1867 and remained an American territory until the disentegration of the United States in 1930. It has no national government and its status on the world stage remains ambiguous.

History
Alaska was a territory of the Russian Empire until it was sold to the United States in 1867. When the United States collapsed in 1930, Alaska was left to fend for itself.

The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) continues in Alaska—as it does sporadically across Mother Russia—fought by refugees battling over Alaskan resources. (Highly prized are the large deposits of crude oil discovered by the Russians in the early 1930s.) The American Alaskans, once tolerant enough to accept Russian settlers, have lately started fighting both sides, advertising for mercenaries, to be paid in gold, land, or shares.

The Native Inuit, Eskimo, and Aleutian tribes just stand back and try to survive the crossfire. Of course, with an oil war raging, the Imperial Japanese are a growing presence in the southern areas of the region, offering technical assistance and dangling offers of military aid to the White Russians and Americans. The Whites are happy to have the aid, but the Americans are less needy and more wary.

Alaska is sparsely settled and considerably more primitive than the bulk of the United States' remnants. Running water, electricity, radio and telephone communication are rare. When they are present, they function poorly. The vast size of Alaska, its rugged, untamed geography, and its long, harsh winters mean that its few communities are generally quite isolated from each other.

The geography of Alaska works to the advantage of air pirates, who have established hidden bases in the wilderness. They go after anything that looks like it will make them money, but focus in particular on raiding Russian and Canadian shipping. Pirates in Alaska look unlikely to go anywhere soon, given the lack of any kind of standing authority capable of enforcing law and order across the territory.

Government
Alaska has no national government whatsover; the various small settlements scattered throughout the territory have their own laws (much like frontier towns of America's Old West). In general, decisions are made by concerned citizens in grassroots town meetings.

The largest, most civilized settlement is Anchorage. Anchorage's denizens are mostly subsistence Inuit fishermen, American prospectors and Canadian fur trappers. Anchorage's government, a loose representative democracy, is led by "Judge" Kevin Collins. Collins — a former Texan — forged order in Anchorage through force of will... and force of arms. As a result, most of the pirates, smugglers, and thieves that populate the Alaskan wilderness treat Anchorage as neutral territory.

Military
Alaska has no national armed forces. The various settlements each maintain some kind of local militia, in particular the de facto capital of Anchorage.

International Relations
Alaska has no national government and as a result has no official relations with the outside world. Individual communities deal with each other and foreign citizens and representatives as they see fit.